Highlights

Various Artists: LumenousWarm #1

Repping dreamy beat maestros like AyGeeTee and Coyote Clean Up, Lumenous’ Warm #1 compilation provides some serious, attention-demanding relaxation. Kind of like getting ripped and doing nothing but watching episodes of Planet Earth on your roommate’s huge HD television all night. You could listen to it below, or you could just go over to the Lumenous Bandcamp page and download the entire thing for free. No pressure either way. The Chocolate Grinder is a place of peace and relaxation, after all.

New Dreams Ltd. / FLORAL SHOPPE / 札幌コンテンポラリー

As we have noted before (and before that) (and even before that), 2012 is not only the year of vaporwave, but also the year vaporwave exhausted itself and transformed into something else entirely. While we are still only catching the barest glimpses of that new form in the process of being born, the ruins of the old forms are still haunting the internet. For a limited time, you can download three of the finest examples of the genre for free from the Bandcamp site of the Beer On The Rug imprint. Get a digital copy of 2011’s scene-defining New Dreams Ltd. by LASERDISC VISIONS, the gorgeous FLORAL SHOPPE by MACINTOSH PLUS (one of our mid-year favorites), or the compellingly bland 札幌コンテンポラリー by 情報デスクVIRTUAL.

All three albums are the work of the same mysterious artist, all three under the New Dreams Ltd. brand umbrella (itself a subsidiary of the even more esoteric Prism Corp.), and all three have been retrofitted with bonus tracks and subtly altered cover art. The new artwork is particularly cryptic, each collage having been inexplicably vacated by any trace of humanity, leaving behind empty museums, abandoned galleries, and barren cityscapes. Strangely however, the music continues to be piped in. Enjoy it while it lasts.

London 2012

Dean Blunt and Inga Copeland have uploaded to SoundCloud a new, sure-to-be-fleeting track under their old Hype Williams moniker this morning. It was limited to 100 downloads, so you’re already too late for that (should have camped outside World Music Group HQ last night!), but you can still stream “GALICE” from your choice of desktop, laptop, or mobile device. In the song, Copeland’s reserved croon sounds a bit cleaner than on Black Is Beautiful, but the rapid-fire sirens, cracks, and gun-cock keep the mood frantic and increasingly claustrophobic.

According to FACT, “GALICE” comes from a new tour CD titled London 2012, and will be available at tomorrow night’s show, where they are scheduled to perform at the Tufnell Park Dome in London.

Crime Fetish

To no one’s surprise, Lil B has just released a new mixtape. It’s called Crime Fetish, and it contains 22 tracks. Funny song titles include “ Suck My Dick Ho Remix” , “Gimme Mo Bitches” , and “Beat My Ho” , but the most hilarious has to be “Licking The P” . I’m listening to “Lurk N Twerk” right now, and it’s really crazy and cool ! The mix is the follow-up to Halloween H20, which once again proved just how alsdfakdflj!! Lil B is. Will Crime Fetish have the same effect as Halloween H2O? Can Crime Fetish possibly be as strong as White Flame? Listen to find out.

Download Crime Fetish right here or stream below. If you like what you’re hearing, definitely consider SKIPPING THE REST OF THANKSGIVING!! . It’s the right thing to do.

“U R NEER”

Head nod until it snaps off, listeners. The internet is back-to-back with danceable, somewhat agreeable (@headnodd) jams. Like Stott and Swanson got them super nasty production skills and fiddling fingertips, but they go for the beat. That BEAT! And here, Public Spreads the News does the same with “U R NEER.” Maybe more in a “I’m too hip for coke, but — oh, it’s on my nose?” sort of 100% SILK way, but keeping that Swanson base-ting beat. Not to put Public Spreads the News on that level, but I see he’s on his way to something along them lines. Or maybe he’ll just blow out and get real GAH-rahhge-driven noise-house by maxing his music out.

At any rate, Ailanthus Recodings gave PSTN props through a whacked-out EP split with ϟir­­+Pluϟ. Just massive amounts of new noises to absorb there. Mmmmmdamn. I’d say keep an ear out for this fellah if you got that dancing bug. Or if you’re a workout fiend and need more pump music. *fist in air with pinky up* #pump#pump#pump#pump

A Ghost History

Halifax trio Kestrels released their second album A Ghost History earlier this year, and it’s every bit the pleaser debut Primary Colours was — that is, if you’re into the sound of punk-turning-into-indie pop caught in transition while bursting at the seams with loud, boisterous shoegaze-inspired guitars. The band cites Creation records and early Merge releases as influences, but it’s likely every listener will find traces of whatever indie/college rock they may have inadvertently stumbled upon from the mid-80s to the early 90s.

Head on over to the band’s Bandcamp site to hear A Ghost History in its entirety.